1. Field
The disclosures herein relate to a color unit, and an imaging device, such as a camera or an image sensor, having the color unit as a unit of a light receiving part thereof.
2. Description of Related Art
Light receiving devices are widely applied in digital cameras, broadcasting cameras, security cameras, computer video cameras, camcorders, automobile sensors, home sensors, solar cells and various other devices.
Generally, a light receiving device has a structure in which pixels are arranged, typically in a matrix-type of arrangement, and the pixels are basically composed of a microlens, a color filter and a photoelectric conversion device.
As competition to increase the number of pixels in order to obtain a high quality image grows, reduction in pixel size becomes an important issue. However, as the pixel size decreases, an amount of light reaching an optical diode of each pixel also decreases. This decreased amount of light degrades the performance of the light receiving device, for example, a decrease in light sensitivity, false-color images, a moiré phenomenon and a decrease in resolution are all possible effects of the reduced amount of light. A conventional pixel is difficult to form in a size of 1.4 μm or less.
A conventional metal oxide semiconductor (“MOS”) capacitor or a p-n junction diode, which is formed of crystalline silicon, amorphous silicon or a compound semiconductor such as GaAs, is typically used as a photoelectric conversion device. However, this conventional photoelectric conversion device performs only a photoelectric conversion function, and thus includes separate color filters to select a light receiving region, thereby making it difficult to fabricate a device that is small in size and is highly-integrated.